Category Archives: Uncategorized

I’d heard of Logos Books & Records‘ closure via FB chatter earlier this year, but it didn’t fully register until I made it up to Santa Cruz for the first time since they shut their doors. So, a belated love letter…

Dear Logos,

Thank you for everything you have given to the community for nearly five decades. I have so many truly fond memories there, most of which consist of many years spattered with MANY hours sitting alone on the cement floor in the bottom corner of the building meticulously appraising your playscript collection, pulling anything I’d never heard of before (or classics I was embarrassed not to already own), and assembling my pile for the cash register. I engaged in this ritual so frequently, I’d say that at least 50% of my large play library consists of books from your walls. Other memories include makeout sessions amongst the shelves (downstairs– always downstairs), the spine-tingling thrill of grabbing something that you sense will complete your life from the shelves nearest the checkout counter, and the feeling of warmth, respect and honor I felt in the air every time I went in there– the way you feel when you KNOW a place is tended to with thought, care, and so much love. I am so deeply sorry and saddened that the community could not return that love to keep the business alive. Of course there were many factors in the decision to close, but I feel like the community that you worked to serve let you down. If I hadn’t been so busy carrying my Logos-bought play collection from apartment to apartment to apartment all across Los Angeles, I would have made more trips up to add to my collection, and certainly would have at least come to say goodbye.

Medieval Times Knights

I had never been to Medieval Times and didn’t really know what to expect, but I ended up very impressed with these dudes who play the knights in the show! At first I just thought, “Man, this is the ultimate drama nerd job,” but then I started to realize what a crazy amount of work and training there must be. Endless fight choreo, tricks with various weapons, working with/riding on/doing tricks on horses, and the show is about two hours long! It was cray. It must be so exhausting and physically demanding (but I’m sure also really fun). Cheers to them.

The Actors Fund

I heard about The Actors Fund’s services through some friends and went to an orientation to check it out. I was so delightfully surprised to hear about how many free services they offer. They have a huge program devoted to getting day jobs as well as money management and budgeting, therapy services, assistance with health insurance, and so on. Not only that, but the Fund also services anyone who works in the entertainment industry– not just actors. Check them out here.

Bitter Gertrude

I adore the Bitter Gertrude blog so so much. Melissa Hillman covers challenging, relevant issues in the arts as well as hilarious theatre nerdery. Many of her posts are incredibly insightful and like well-written academic theses– in the intelligent point of view and explication kind of way, not in the boring kind of way. She wrote a great one a few days ago about the current state of small theatres in America. DEF CHECK HER OUT.

Olallieberry Puff at The Buttery

This is seriously my favorite thing in the entire world and it brings me inexplicable joy. Unfortunately it’s all the way up in Santa Cruz. I could eat this every day of my life.

Violin Girl

I spent one of my Fridays in October in the jury duty waiting room (not inspirational), and during my lunch break I was enjoying the sunshine in the nearby park and saw this girl playing the violin (very inspirational!). She was at the exit of Civic Center/Grand Park metro rail station. It brightened by day so much and gave me so many good feels.

She was incredible. I think we miss out on some of these random acts of street performance living in a city/culture that doesn’t opt for public transportation. It absolutely brightened my less than awesome mood. Thank you, Violin Girl!

Brian Sonia-Wallace

I had a lovely conversation with Brian Sonia-Wallace in October about theatre. He makes the types of I would love to do if I wasn’t scared– socially-charged, sometimes site-specific, Augusto Boal-influenced… to call it “unconventional theatre” or “avant garde” is to degrade it. We talked about how to make theatre a gift for people by asking what stories do people NEED to be receiving, in a shaman-esque way. I so want to be a shaman for my art. He is so full of joy every time I see him and has so many awesome ideas for new projects that I can’t wait to see come to fruition. His passion for theatre reignites mine, and these kind of convos remind me of being in drama school when everyone’s brains were so full of new ideas and possibilities… I want to hold on to that feeling as much as possible. To follow his projects (which you should!), sign up for his mailing list by clicking here.

Tsujita Ramen Annex

I should really start putting more food on here, because food perfection is incredibly inspirational to me. Food is totally an artform, and I feel a kinship with chefs/restaurateurs. Good food is created from an inspired idea and carefully sourced ingredients– just like good film and theatre. Anyway, it seems like the Annex is a smaller version of the more renowned Tsujita, and daaaaaaaym do they have good ramen. The noodles are more al dente than I’m used to, but I know that’s their jam and maybe it’s actually more legit. The broth is simply phenomenal. Sorry, Santouka. I loved you so, but you have been deliciously replaced.

Yummy ramen from Tsujita Annex, photo credit – The Raman Shaman blog

Walk It Out/Gwen Verdon Mash-Up

One of my favorite things ever that I blissfully rediscovered (and a delight for any musical theatre nerd)– an oldie but a goodie from the mid-2000’s, now housed on Funny or Die:

I was watching tv with composer extraordinaire Alex Williamson the other day and the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie was on. I’d never seen it before and we talked about how a lot of the feedback about the version that came out this summer had been that they don’t like the CGI of the turtles, it’s too much of an action movie, some shit about how the nostrils don’t look right,… anyway, whatever, I don’t really care, BUT, it got me thinking about what Plato has to say about art and if that might be why people are always so grumpy about remakes of classic movies, books, etc.

Stay with me here, but do you remember Plato’s Republic and the rant about chairs? Drama nerds and lit/humanities students will know what I’m talking about. There’s a section where Plato discusses art versus truth, and explains that art is extremely untruthful because it’s so far from it’s original truth of the concept which the art is about. With the chair example, here would be the hierarchy (from most truthful to least truthful):

The idea of “chair” (purest form of chair)

An actual physical chair (twice removed from chair-ness)

The absolute WORST = some sort of art about a chair– a drawing, poem, etc. Bleh! He says that this is the worst level of imitation (his antithesis of truth) because it is a “copy of a copy.”

Of course most of what Plato has to say about art here in Republic is cray (like the idea that art is terrible and worthless because of it’s imitative-ness, WHICH, is awkward because Republic is merely words written down that are an imitation of his actual ideas… but anyway, that’s a diatribe for another day), but the apparent TNMT disappointment got me thinking about these concepts of imitation and truth and how people are almost always disappointed by remakes. So many movie-goers (myself included) are tired of seeing a bajillion sequels and remakes all the time rather than getting new, fresh, interesting stories. Not only that, but there’s an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” situation with a lot of these classics being remade– making a reboot that’s less than can desecrate the original. Is this because these copies of copies are getting at our inner Plato spirit? That these remakes and sequels are taking us further and further away from the “true” story? I’m sure Plato would not be down with the blockbuster schedules for the next few summers.

Plato was not a fan of the arts in general, but I think I have to agree with him on some level about this. Let’s treasure our originals and go make some kick-ass new stuff.

Nice Things

I already talked about it last month, but now it is actually open (as of last night!) and if you are in Los Angeles, you should treat yo self to this incredible drama. I worked on the AD team and marketing team for this show and love supporting Mr. Vince Melocchi and new works in general. As I mentioned last month, working on this has been so incredible because everyone who worked on this show gives a shit SO MUCH about making good theatre, and that makes me want to explode with love. Our official blurb is: “As the economy falls apart, military recruiters are offering paychecks and school tuition with the promise of a better life. But at what cost? Nice Things explores the changing and diminishing options now available for young men and women in small town America.”

I totally cried while watching these. Not from being sad, but from the sheer joy and gratitude that there are people out there working in musical theatre who are so profoundly talented (and I know perfect is an ugly word, but, seriously, perfect):

If you haven’t seen Cheyenne Jackson in action, you must do so immediately.

Hollyshorts Film Festival:

Film festival season! I volunteered for the Hollyshorts Film Festival in Hollywood in August and got to see a bunch of great shorts. A few I really liked were The Council and Interstate. The Council is by AFI alumni Beau McCombs and Nich Musco and had great visuals and a wonderful, charming story. IMDB does a better job of explaining it: “While talking to the girl of his dreams, Theo gets an Idea for a joke. At this moment we go INSIDE Theo’s brain and follow this Bright Idea as he fights past Insecurities to get to The Council Chamber so he may be approved to be said out loud.” It’s super cute. They took such a great idea and executed it perfectly. And, my fellow B-Lo native, Michael Beardsley, makes an appearance! You can see a trailer of The Councilhere. I also really enjoyed Interstate by Camille Stochitch, which is about a driving instructor who helps illegal immigrants get licenses and is put in a compromising situation where… well, why don’t you just see it for yourself. 🙂 It was sweet yet heart-wrenching yet topical story that was very well done.

The Pet Matchmaker:

Through a panel at the Hollyshort Festival I became aware of Elaine Hendrix’s foundation, The Pet Matchmaker. If you’re from my generation, you’ve surely seen Elaine in gems like the reboot of The Parent Trap and, one of my personal favorites, Superstar (which I totally own on VHS). The Pet Matchmaker is a non-profit whose mission is, “to foster happy, healthy relationships between people and their rescue pets.” I love animals and have a rescue kitty myself, so I am very passionate about this organization. If you’ve been thinking about adopting, check them out now!

My kitttttyyyyyy

Making Your Life as an Artist:

I came across this amazing e-book called “Making Your Life as an Artist” by Andrew Simonet. The PDF is FREE to download at www.artistsu.org/making. OMG. This made my heart so happy. I highly, highly recommend this for any and all people who have chosen to devote their lives to something creative. This is all stuff we really need to hear because it reminds us of how important we are to the world and helps right some really rampant and unhelpful mindset issues.

Awesome theatre:

Lastly I just want to give a shout-out to Rogue Machine and give some love to the theatre. I love theatre. I will always love theatre. Right now I’m fortunate to be assistant directing/helping with producing for Nice Things by Vince Melocchi at Rogue Machine Theatre. This whole process just reminds me why I LOVE working on new works so much and how crazy satisfying and energizing it is to be all working together towards the goal of telling a story in the best way possible. We have fun, but everyone takes it really seriously, and I love that. I’ve been in a mishmash of theatre out here and it feels so incredible to work with people who have SOOOOO much respect for the artform. You best check it out. I have a feeling this show will be on my list next month. 🙂 Tickets available soon at www.roguemachinetheatre.com.